This is probably one of the most pleasant surprises to come "straight out the camera" this summer! The red of a setting sun over the Bay of Fundi, Nova Scotia, cast its light on the beach rocks and trees, except where the long shadow in the middle lies - that is the rock we were sitting on and the figure at the tip is me.
The New England Peace Pagoda Literal and Spiritual Reflections
A Peace Pagoda is a Buddhiststupa designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds, and to help unite them in their search for world peace
(wikipedia)
It was an absolutely perfect day in The Valley (Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts) today and WP and I took a drive to Leverett, to one of our favorite places - The New England Peace Pagoda. There isn't a direct website for The Peace Pagoda yet so what I've linked to here is a general wiki article on peace pagodas or stupas. And the following excerpt is from an architectural page on pagodas.
Mary non-Buddhists who helped out for a few days or even weeks during construction were perplexed by the lack of any apparent access to the interior of the dome, which in the finished stupa is permanently sealed. Visitors still wonder why there is no "inside," no clear destination, as they watch saffron-robed monks and nuns circumambulate the outdoor walkways beating hand drams and chanting. There are many possible replies to the lingering question. Rev. Clare Carter, a nun at the pagoda, suggests one of them: "Our teacher was always trying to make the point that heaven is also this world. Our life here is a creation of this heaven through human effort."
On the grounds near the temple is a this lovely pond surrounded by prayer flags. One can see the reflection in the pond water of the lower tier of prayer flags. A peaceful place to sit and reflect.
I can't resist posting yet another Nova Scotia sky. I think I've featured sunsets so far, so let's take a look at a blue sky filled with fluff, shall we?
Cape Split Nova Scotia
It was cool for July and very windy, especially when a large cloud passed over.
It loses a lot in translation but if you don't know Portuguese (and do know English) it gives you a sense of why Brasilian musicians were so frequently censored by the government.
Father, take away from me this chalice
of wine tinted with blood!
How to drink this bitter drink
Inhale the pain, swallow the drudgery.
Even if the mouth is shut, the heart still remains
Silence in the city is not heard.
For what is it worth for me to be the son of the holy mother
It would be better that I were born to another
Another less dull reality
So many lies such brute force.
How hard it is to wake up silenced
If I hurt myself in the quiet of night
I desire to release an inhuman scream
Which would be a way to be heard
All of this silence makes me dizzy
Dazed, I remain attentive
In the expectation of, at any moment,
To see the monster of the lake emerge
From so much fat, the hog no longer walks
From so much use, the knife no longer cuts
How hard it is, father, to open the door
With this word stuck in my throat
This Homeric drunkenness in the world
What's the advantage of having good will?
Even if the heart is silenced, consciousness remains
Of all the drunkards downtown
Perhaps the world isn't that small
Nor is life a consummated fact
I desire to invent my own sin
I want to die from my own poison!
And disconnect my mind from yours
May my head lose your way of thinking
I want to sniff diesel fumes
And get intoxicated until I'm forgotten!
"When the Amherst sphinx styled herself a pagan, she meant she didn’t believe in the biblical God. What sort of deity, if any, she did believe in is hard to pinpoint." -- Gary Sloan, "Emily Dickinson: Pagan Sphinx,"
I believe that the images and writing posted here fall under the "fair use" section of the U.S. copyright law http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107, as they are intended for educational purposes and are not in a medium that is of commercial nature.
